Volkswagen Beetle
This article is currently an undead Frankenstein Monster of reanimated deletions from the equivalent article on Wikipedia-26 May 2012. Dumpster diving is always fun, but you never know what you're going to get. The one good thing about it is, you can't get this anywhere else Much like their Type 2 counterparts, Beetles were psychedelically painted and considered an ancestor of art cars (WP). By 2002, over 21 million Type 1s had been produced. On 30 July 2003, the last Type 1 rolled off the production line in Puebla, Mexico. It was car number 21,529,464, and was immediately shipped off to the company's museum in Wikipedia:Wolfsburg, Germany. A celebration and a mariachi band serenaded the last car in the 68-year-old history. The last car was nicknamed El Rey, which is Spanish for "The King", named after a legendary Mexican song by Wikipedia:José Alfredo Jiménez. The last 3000 type 1s were called the "Última Edición" or the final edition. The Beetle has made numerous appearances in Hollywood films, most notably The Love Bug comedy series (Disney) from 1968 to 2005, starring as "Herbie", a pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 Beetle—racing number 53. In the plot of the 1973 Woody Allen film Sleeper, Allen's character was able to instantly start a Beetle which lay hidden and unused in a cave for 200 years, leading to the punchline "Wow, they really built these things, didn't they?". In the 1984 series The Transformers, key Autobot character Bumblebee transformed into a Beetle, as well fellow Autobot Glyph and the Decepticon Bugbite. In Cars (2006), every bug or insect is represented by a VW Beetle. In Wikipedia:Footloose (1984) Ren McCormick (Wikipedia:Kevin Bacon) drives a Beetle. In Wikipedia:Dazed and Confused (1993), a Beetle Cabrio and Beetle 1303s are featured. In the Wikipedia:United States, Volkswagen enthusiasts frequent large Volkswagen-themed car shows, especially in the summer months. Many of these shows feature camping, a car show called a "show 'n' shine", drag racing, parts swap meet, raffles, burnout contests, and other events. Die-hard and loyal "VW-heads" or "Dubbers" attend these shows regularly, often traveling 500 miles or more (even abroad) to attend their favorite event. Alternative uses for VW Beetle engines The air-cooled 4-cylinder horizontally opposed cylinder (a flat four) has been used for many other purposes. *From the 1960s, it has been used as an Wikipedia:experimental aircraft engine. Companies still produce aero engines derived from the Beetle engine: Limbach, Wikipedia:Hapi, Wikipedia:Revmasterl and others. *Owner-built Wikipedia:Kitplanes, notably the Volksplane, are specifically designed to use these engines. *Until 2001, Beetle engines were also used to run several of the ski lifts at the Wikipedia:Thredbo resort in Wikipedia:New South Wales. *In remote Australian Wikipedia:opal mining communities, VW motors are used as Wikipedia:air compressors for air-powered equipment. Two cylinders are used as a motor while the others are modified to produce a flow of Wikipedia:compressed air. Dunn-Right, Incorporated of Wikipedia:Anderson, South Carolina offers a similar conversion kit. *Volkswagen engines have also been use in Australia for fire fighting. Wikipedia:Country Fire Authority have often used the engines to drive water pumps,Romsey Fire Brigade Website http://www.romseyfirebrigade.org.au/gpage.html. Retrieved 5 June 2009. colloquially known as 'Godiva pumps' after the pump the engine drives.Whittlesea Fire brigade Website http://home.alphalink.com.au/~wseacfa/about/equip.html Accessed on the 5th of June 2009 *In Europe, Beetle engines were used to power mobile water-pumps used by the fire brigade. These pumps have been used from the 1950s till the present day. *A Beetle engine drives the rotating Wikipedia:Mercedes-Benz emblem on the top of the Wikipedia:Europa-Center in Wikipedia:Berlin. *The Zamboni HD Wikipedia:ice resurfacer is powered by an LPG-powered Beetle engine. *In 1967-68, the portable sawmill maker Mighty Mite of Wikipedia:Portland, Oregon used VW engines to power the circular saw blades of light sawmills. Later, as the US market for VW Beetles declined, the sawmill was modified for other power. *The Amazonas, a Wikipedia:Brazilian-built motorcycle manufactured from 1978 to 1990, uses a modified 1600 cc Beetle engine and gearbox. With a dry weight that could top 350 kg, the Amazonas was billed as the world's heaviest production Wikipedia:motorcycle. The VW transmission's reverse gear, rare in a two-wheeled vehicle, was a useful feature in such a heavy motorcycle. There was later the Kahena with similar construction. *Many "trikes" have been built with Beetle engines. *Dune buggies and Wikipedia:sandrails are commonly constructed with Beetle engines and other Beetle components. *In the United States, many farmers still use the Wikipedia:AGCO Corporation "SPRA-COUPE" for fertilizer and pesticide spraying, which were manufactured from the 1960s until the mid 1990s, and due to the good availability of parts are still supported. Deleted material :probably because of the mention of Nazis. Can't say I blame them for the instinct, but knowledge is knowledge In addition to the influence of Tatra’s aerodynamic styling, Tatra had pioneered the use of air-cooling in road vehicle engines with the original T77 in 1934. Air-cooling was demanding technologically, but desirable to avoid coolant freezing.Wikipedia:Antifreeze states that propylene glycol antifreeze was introduced in the 20'sTatra’s wealthy customers could afford to pay for advanced technology, but Ferdinand Porsche was out on a limb in specifying air-cooling for his people’s car. In the end, it was subsidies from the Nazi government that paid for Porsche’s preferred design and brought the convenience of air-cooling to a mass audience — albeit only after Wikipedia:World War II. According to the book Car Wars, Adolf Hitler called the Tatra "the kind of car I want for my highways".Car Wars, Jonathan Mantle, Arcade Publishing, 1997 In the same book, it is said that Ferdinand Porsche admitted "to have looked over Ledwinka’s shoulder" while designing the Volkswagen. Tatra launched a lawsuit, but this was stopped when Wikipedia:Germany invaded Wikipedia:Czechoslovakia. At the same time, Tatra was forced to stop producing the T97. The matter was re-opened after World War II and in 1961 Wikipedia:Volkswagen paid Ringhoffer-Tatra 3,000,000 Wikipedia:Deutsche Marks in compensation. These damages meant that Volkswagen had little money for the development of new models and the Beetle's production life was necessarily extended. Tatra ceased producing passenger cars in 1950, then resumed again in 1954 as a manufacturer of large luxurious cars and limousines under various Communist governments in Wikipedia:Czechoslovakia. Even the company’s last limousines were rear-engined and air cooled. There are many popular Beetle styles, from the 'Wikipedia:Cal Look' to a Wikipedia:Rat rod. They vary between themselves, but are very similar in many ways. Also, the California Look has changed during the 30+ years of its lifespan. The most typical way to customise the exterior is to change the wheels and lower the suspension of the car. The favorite wheels are period-style EMPI 5- or 8-spokes, Speedwell BRMs, or Wikipedia:Porsche factory rims like Fuchs from the classic 911. One of the original California Look modifications is to replace or remove the bumpers and trim, either to give a cleaner look or to reduce the Wikipedia:curb weight; if bumpers are removed, pushbars are common. The stock bumpers are usually chromed or polished, sometimes painted or powder coated. There are many clubs dedicated to 'Cal Look', including the (ominously named) DKP (Der Kleiner Panzers, or in English, 'The little Tanks') in the USA, which was one of the first clubs dedicated to true 'Cal Look' cars. There are also currently many big 'Cal Look' VW clubs based in Europe, including the DAS (Das Autobahn Scrapers) in Belgium, the DFL (Der Fieser Luftkühlers) in Germany and the JG54 Grünherz (Greenhearts) in the UK. For a 'Resto Cal' look, a roof rack and similar accessories can be added. There are many other Wikipedia:aftermarket parts that can be added to the Beetle, including wing mirrors, chrome wipers, stone guards, Wikipedia:mud flaps, and badges. Rear light and front indicator lenses can also be changed. One of the logos used by the Houston Art Car Klub incorporated a Beetle with a cowboy hat. Texas artist Wikipedia:Bob "Daddy-O" Wade transformed a Beetle into a Wikipedia:New Orleans Saints helmet. Currently, there are a wide array of clubs that are concerned with the Beetle. The fans are quite diverse. Looks include the resto-look, Wikipedia:Cal Look, German-look, resto-Cal Look, buggies, Wikipedia:Baja Bugs, Wikipedia:old school, Disney's Herbie the Love Bug replicas, ratlook, etc. Part of their cult status is attributed to being one of a few cars with an Wikipedia:air-cooled, horizontally opposed engine design, and the consequent ease of repair and modification, as opposed to the more conventional and technically complex watercooled engine design. The original flat-four boxer design had fewer than 200 moving parts. See also * Wikipedia:List of names for the Volkswagen Type 1 * Wikipedia:Baja bug * Wikipedia:Cal Look * Wikipedia:Punch buggy * Wikipedia:Steyr 50 (The Austrian pre-WW2 'people's car') * Wikipedia:Volksrod * Wikipedia:Volkswagen * Wikipedia:Volkswagen Kübelwagen * Wikipedia:Volkswagen New Beetle External links * VW Beetle Profile with description, images and specifications * Classic VW Bugs n Vans - A VW Fanzine based near the annual Bugjam venue * Video of the Volkswagen Beetle taxi in Mexico City, 2009 Citations Category:Austrian inventions Category:First automobile made by manufacturer Category:Hippie culture Category:Industrial designs Category:Rally cars Category:Rear-engined vehicles Category:Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Category:Vehicles introduced in 1938 Category:Vehicles with boxer engines Category:Cars assembled in Australia Category:Cars assembled in Mexico Category:Hippie art